Always a fan of flying, Spencer wanted to find ways to upgrade his travel experience. Over the years, Spencer has been a guest speaker on multiple YouTube shows as well as podcasts on maximizing point...
Edited by: Stella Shon
With a degree in media and journalism, Stella has been in the points and miles game for more than 6 years. She most recently worked as a Corporate Communications Analyst for JetBlue. Find her work in ...
& Kellie Jez
Kellie’s professional experience has led her to a deep passion for compliance, data reporting, and process improvement. Kellie’s learned the ins and outs of the points and miles world and leads UP’s c...
28 comments
E W
April 28, 2018
Do you receive MQM if you use the Delta “miles+cash” purchase option?
Christine Krzyszton
April 29, 2018
Thanks for the question. A ticket you purchase with the Miles + Cash option you’re referring to does not earn MQMs as it is treated like an award ticket.
Arlington Traveler
June 16, 2019
A couple of caveats to what you write that I’ve discovered in the process of trying to get SkyMiles award from Asia back to the USA in Delta One or partner business class.:
1) The call to book at the low level when there is no availability on DL one with partner flights only works when it is partner + partner.. if you have a DL flight(s) tagged on at the end/beginning it’s a nightmare and often can’t be done
2) DL has de facto increased the one way saver amount to 120K from 85k for any awards with at least one flight with Suites on their own metal. As they complete retrofits of all their 777s and introduce more A350s, that means you need to find a DL flight without suites (A330 or 767) to get the 85K price. As DL begins taking on A330NEO’s with suites, I expect that to become even harder.
Stephen Au
June 20, 2019
Hey Arlington,
1) There are a number of readers and travelers, including myself, that have had no problem with booking DL One plus a partner segment.
2) Delta Airlines employs multiple pricing levels, and the award bucket levels have changed over time. What you’re most likely looking at is the second-cheapest award level. Thanks for reading!
Nathan
June 18, 2019
This must be an old article. There’s no flag to click on their website anymore.
Stephen Au
June 18, 2019
Hey Nathan,
Thanks for the feedback. Virgin Atlantic recently changed their interface. The directions have been revised.
Malerie
October 17, 2019
Hello! I’ve been trying for weeks to find Delta availability through Virgin with not one single search yielding ANY flight options. Am I doing something wrong?
Jarrod West
October 18, 2019
Hi Malerie,
Do you mind sharing what routes you’ve been searching for?
Karen Clark
December 04, 2019
So are you saying virgin Atlantic upper class is the same as delta one suites?
Having such a hard time because there seems to be a certain language I don’t know. I want to fly Delta one suite but then so many of the flights will say that they are operated by in this case virgin Atlantic which to me means I won’t get a delta one suite?
Jarrod West
December 05, 2019
Hi Karen,
Virgin Atlantic Upper Class and Delta One are not the same. When searching for your availability you’ll want to select a flight that is operated by Delta, not Virgin Atlantic.
Daniella
December 07, 2019
Is it possible to use a companion certificate for a flight that has delta one domestically (like NY to LA) and then upgrade both people using skymiles?
Thanks,
Daniella
Jarrod West
December 08, 2019
Hi Daniella,
Yes, that should be possible depending on the fare code of the ticket you want to select.
Dave C
February 07, 2022
Why has this not been updated for the big deval? South America is no longer 90k
Christine Krzyszton
February 07, 2022
Hi Dave. I just looked up the Virgin Atlantic chart and it is still showing 90K for South America. https://www.virginatlantic.com/bb/en/flying-club/flying-co/points/spend-with-delta.html
Billy Bob
February 16, 2022
The only thing that gets “updated” is the date of the publication of the page.
Christine Krzyszton
February 17, 2022
Hi Billy Bob. Actually, if we update any information (which we have done) in the article, even if the entire article hasn’t been updated, the date the new information was added will be reflected by the article date. Thanks for reading.
Emma
September 11, 2022
For some reason, when I searched for tickets, they always come with hefty taxes and fees. For example, from ATL To LON, taxes for upper class tickets are $2,040. What am I doing wrong?
Jarrod West
September 12, 2022
Hi Emma,
The taxes and fees on award tickets are notoriously high for flights to and from the UK. To get around this, many award travelers fly into/out of a nearby city, and then connect to London on a cheaper ticket to avoid those pesky fuel surcharges.
Matt
December 18, 2022
I don’t think this works anymore. I have followed the instructions as written, and when I try to search for MSP >> HNL, I get this, “Sorry, no reward flights are available for your search, some flights don’t operate every day. Try selecting flexible dates to see more availability.#101638_A.” Alternatively, when I go to Korean Air, change the region to the UK, and enter the same details, I get this, “Tickets not sold for this route.” Is it even possible to use one of Delta’s partners to get a better deal on Delta flights than on Delta’s site anymore?
Stephen Au
December 18, 2022
Hi Matt,
It’s really hard to book nonstop flights on Delta One business class through partners on Hawaii routes. Instead, I’d recommend using Delta SkyMiles for these Delta flights in business class and maintaining maximum flexibility as you search for the cheapest dates.
Mark
March 26, 2023
The information specific to Virgin Atlantic / Delta One is no longer accurate. I’ve been searching for ages and finally called Virgin to inquire. The rep said as of 2023, they only book reward tickets on Delta Economy. No more Delta One.
Jarrod West
March 30, 2023
Hi Mark,
I think the phone rep you spoke to was misinformed, as you can still book Delta One awards through Vrigin Atlatic. A friend of mine just did so the other day. In instances like this when you have a difficult phone agent it is best to just hang up and call back.
Erin
May 16, 2023
Is Air France availability still an award chart? I have found it’s dynamic based on different airports and not a standard 125k for business. Thank you!
Jarrod West
June 30, 2023
Hi Erin,
Air France still has an award chart, but it shows the minimum number of miles that can be charged for a route.
Lisa
July 03, 2023
I have been trying to book Delta One LAX-SYD through the Virgin Atlantic site following your updated instructions trying a variety of dates. However, it doesn’t show options on any of their partners, including Delta and I get the reply: “Sorry, no reward flights are available for your search. Try using our Reward seat checker to find availability.#101638_A”. When I click the “Reward Seat Checker”, it indicates I choose from a drop down list of UK based airports only. Is there another step or way I should be searching for this to see Delta options out of LAX?
Chris Hassan
July 03, 2023
Hey Lisa,
The LAX-SYD route is one of most difficult routes to find premium award availability on. Once you find avaiability, then you can go and book via Virgin Atlantic. The Rewards Seat Checker is limited to UK destinations at the moment, but you can use this trick to adjust the calendar: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQofLRNjbk/
Joseph Perez
July 28, 2023
Did something change on Virgin Atlantic? It tells me that no reward flights are available, and when I use the Reward seat checker it directs me to, my only options are UK airports.
I am using a Mac and I did change the bottom to UK English
thank you
Jarrod West
July 29, 2023
Hi Joseph,
Are you able to do an award search using the booking section on the Virgin Atlantic homepage by clicking “Advance Search” and then “Points”? Or is the issue limited to the Reward Seat Checker?
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